Pokémorphs 2: The Limit
by Spirit Wolf
Summary: The Pokémorphs are feeling quite cocky. After all, they can turn into Pokémon. Who else can do that? But no one believes them when they say there are evil little slugs crawling inside Pokémon's brains. Not even when they morph in public. People just think they are freaks. And there are some people who want to capture and examine them. It's up to Michael to save his friends...
1. Chapter 1

This is the second in the Pokémorphs series. Please read Pokémorphs #1: The Mew first!

**- Pokémorphs #2: The Limit -**

**Cover Quote:**

Michael has monkeyed around too much...

**Plot:**

The Pokémorphs are feeling quite cocky. After all, they can turn into Pokémon. Who else can do that? But no one believes them when they say there are evil little slugs crawling inside Pokémon's brains. Not even when they morph in public. People just think they are freaks. And there are some people who want to capture and examine them. It's up to Michael to save his friends...

**Chapters:**

11.

**CHAPTER 1**

Hi, I'm Michael.

My life's kinda turned upside-down lately. Ever since we - Lisa, Boris, Rachel, and I - met a Pokémon called a Mew. The Mew gave us the power to morph into any Pokémon we can touch.

He also warned us about the Weederpies - evil little slugs who are actually crosses of Weedles and Caterpies.

The Weederpies can crawl inside a Pokémon's head and take over its body.

True! I'm not lying!

But they can't just take over whatever Pokémon they want. A special little gene has to be made, or the Pokémon's body won't support the slug in its head.

Now, you probably want to lock me up in a padded room by now. But I swear, this is true.

Well anyway, I'm walking along the halls of Pokémon College, and just as the bell for first period goes, I reach my class.

Yes, we're in Pokémon College, like just about every other kid in the world. Not many kids don't want to be a Pokémon trainer.

Anyway, I went into class. As I walked past the teacher, I dropped my homework on her desk.

I saw her eyes go wide. "You finished the assignment?"

"Yes, Ms. Mill," I replied, grinning.

I went and sat at my desk.

Boris was already at his desk, which is just behind mine.

Boris is kind of aggressive, and never really questions anything. He sometimes misses important stuff, but he's very brave.

He's about medium height, and has black hair.

"Shock! Horror!" Boris said. "Michael's done his homework!"

Then he leaned close, and whispered into my ear, "Meeting tonight at Rachel's place."

I looked across the room at Rachel. She was hunched over her desk, writing something. Then she looked up, and started looking around the room. Her eyes locked onto mine. She smiled.

I smiled back, but then started to blush. I quickly looked away.

I kind of like Rachel. As in _like_.

She has long, brown hair, and is about the same height as Boris.

Lisa was sitting next to her. Lisa is TALL.

I am short.

I do not like that fact.

Lisa has short, black hair, and she is not afraid to say what she thinks. She is very self-confident.

The day went by quite quickly, and before I knew it, I was out of class.

I headed across to the big apartment building we all stay in. First, I went to my room and left my school books there. Then, I took the elevator up to Rachel's room, and knocked.

She opened the door, and I came in. Lisa and Boris were not here yet.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," I said.

We both sat on the couch in silence for a few minutes, then I said, "So what do you think of this morphing power?"

"Oh, it's kinda cool," she said. "It's weird while we're morphing, though. I mean, our bodies just sort of melt and shrivel away..."

"Personally, I get creeped out by it," I said. "It's kinda scary."

"I know what you mean," Rachel said.

Just then, Lisa and Boris arrived.

**Author's Annotation:** In retrospect, I should have made Boris the short one because Michael comes across as a complete copy of Marco from Animorphs. But the human Pokémorphs were actually originally inspired by people I knew from school, even though I took quite a few liberties with their characters.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

They put their school bags on the couch, and then opened them.

Inside, there were no school books; there was Bounce and Blitz.

Bounce and Blitz are actually Mews.

Mews are a very rare Pokémon, with a very long tail, huge feet, short arms and legs, and no visible mouth. Their eyes are almond-shaped, and their skin is a pale-pink color.

Blitz is Bounce's younger brother, and Blitz is whiter and smaller than Bounce.

They have really long names, but I can't remember their full names right now, so we just call them Blitz and Bounce for short.

Their father is... erm, _was_ the Mew who gave us our morphing power. But he was murdered by Parasecter One.

Parasecter One is one big, bad Weederpie. He's like a Weederpie leader.

His host is a Mewtwo. Yes, the one and only Mewtwo.

Anyway, since Mews are only about a foot high, they were able to fit in Lisa's and Boris' school bags quite comfortably.

"So, how was school bag express?" I asked them.

When they didn't understand the question, Lisa answered for them.

"Horrible," she said. "A lady on the elevator thought my bag was alive!"

˂I got an itch,˃ Bounce explained in the strange thought-speak voice Mews use. ˂It was very unpleasant.˃

"What I wanna know is why we didn't just meet in the fields," Boris said.

"Because there are a lot of trainers out there these days," Rachel said. "One of them could have seen Bounce or Blitz."

Bounce nodded. ˂Blitz and I can morph into our Nidoran forms if any trainers are nearby. But there is always the risk of one of us being caught in a Pokéball.˃

"So, what are we going to do now?" Lisa asked.

We all thought for a moment.

˂Well, Bounce and I could look for any Weederpie facilities,˃ Blitz said. ˂I mean, they've gotta design and create the Draks somewhere, don't they?˃

Remember those genes I mentioned, the ones that are needed for a Pokémon to support a Weederpie? Well, that's what they're called, Draks.

"Parasecter One probably knows that we exist, though," Rachel said quietly. "I mean, that Pinsir saw us morphing, and it saw Bounce and Blitz, so Parasecter One must know we're going to fight them."

We all thought about that for a moment, then I said, "Why don't we go to the press? If we tell them about the Weederpies, surely they'll help out!"

Boris raised his eyebrows. "Yeah," he said, his voice slowly rising. "Yeah! If they don't believe us, we'll just morph!"

Lisa grinned and nodded. "They'd have to believe us!"

˂Could you please not tell anyone about Blitz and I?˃ Bounce asked.

"Why not?" I asked.

But Rachel understood, and said, "If people realize there's a special and very rare type of Pokémon, and there's two hanging out with us, they'll try to catch them. Some trainers are decent, but others are greedy. We understand, Bounce. We won't tell anyone."

We all nodded, agreeing.

"So where should we go?" Boris asked.

"Let's just barge into the TV studios nearby," Lisa said.

"Now?" I squeaked.

"Now," Lisa said.

**Author's Annotation:** An impromptu visit to TV studios? Nothing can go wrong with this plan.

And I'm disappointed I missed the opportunity for a joke about trainers wanting to complete their Pokédexes.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"Sure, let's just barge into the TV studios _nearby_," I sneered.

"Well, I didn't know they're so far away!" Lisa moaned. "This is so weird! I mean, we live in this city, yet we've never actually walked around it properly."

"We should have done what _I_ said and morphed Pidgeys," Boris muttered.

"Will you all be quiet?" Rachel moaned. "You're making me realize the fact that I can't feel my feet."

We walked on down the streets of our city, Cerulean City, which we had never realized was so big.

"We're here!" Lisa cried.

"Guys, are you sure this is such a good idea?" Rachel asked.

"What can go wrong?" Boris asked.

We went inside the studios. In front of us was a long corridor. A _very_ long corridor. There were doors as far as I could see, each labeled, 'Studio 1', 'Studio 2', 'Studio 3', etc...

"Um, which one?" Boris asked.

"Hey," Lisa said. "Look at this!"

She was looking at a sign on the wall. It said what was in each studio.

"Cool," I said. "Now, where's the news?"

We all started looking for the news.

"Here! 6:00 news! Studio 5," Boris said, pointing. "Rachel, what's the time?"

"It's 5:45 pm. We're just in time," Rachel said, checking her watch.

We went straight into Studio 5. Inside was a huge room. At the back was the news set, along with dozens of cameras. David Gorman, the news guy, was sitting in a chair nearby, going over some notes.

"Well...?" Boris asked. "What now?"

"I guess we just walk up and tell David," Lisa said, shrugging.

––––––––––

"So, you're telling me there are evil slug-things that crawl inside Pokémon's heads and take over them? And that the rarest Pokémon of them all, the Mews, are fighting them? And that you can turn into Pokémon?" David Gorman laughed. He was sitting behind his desk on the set, and he was trying not to laugh too hard. "Yeah right. Run along now, kids. Those cameras go on in 5 minutes."

"Oh do they?" Lisa asked. She got a weird look on her face.

"Oh no, whatever you're thinking, don't," I moaned.

Lisa and Boris exchanged a look. Then, they started to change.

David was taking a sip of coffee. When he saw Boris falling to all fours and Lisa becoming yellow, he spat out coffee all over the desk. His eyes went wide.

Rachel and I were morphing, now, too.

The room was suddenly very quiet as everyone watched four kids turn into a Bulbasaur, a Pikachu, a Charmander, and a Mankey.

I noticed someone had turned a camera on, and was now recording this amazing sight.

˂See?˃ Rachel asked. ˂We were telling the truth!˃

"Did you get that?!" David cried to the camera-man. "Did you get that?! Did you GET THAT?!"

"One minute 'till we start broadcasting," a woman reminded everyone.

"Okay," David said. "You kids can watch. We'll definitely show THAT."

˂See?˃ Lisa said. ˂This is going to work!˃

Still in morph, we collected our clothes and stuff and climbed off the set.

˂Hey!˃ Rachel said. ˂I morphed with my T-shirt on!˃

˂What? How?˃ I asked.

˂I don't know. I guess it was because the shirt was tight,˃ Rachel said.

Right at that moment, the light on the cameras switched on.

**Author's Annotation:** I guess the receptionist and security guards were out having a late lunch.

And it sounds like these kids need more exercise. Or to make more use of public transport. Oh well, soon they'll have flying morphs and it'll no longer be a problem.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

"Tonight, a woman who can count to 100 without pausing to take a breath, and the new lab in town is working great. But first, four kids who can turn into Pokémon," David said.

We were watching one of the monitors that showed what people at home would see if they were watching the news.

"Four kids who can 'morph'," David said. "Don't believe me? Take a look at this."

The screen changed, showing us morphing.

Man! I had never realized I had looked so... so... so _weird_ when morphing!

The screen went back to David.

"These kids can turn into any Pokémon they touch. I wish I could do that, don't you?" David said. He chuckled, then said, "In other news, a woman can count to 100 in one minute without breathing..."

˂What?!˃ Boris cried. ˂That's it?!˃

˂I don't believe this!˃ Lisa cried. ˂He didn't even mention the Weederpies!˃

Feeling depressed and defeated, I grabbed my clothes and headed towards the door.

˂Come on,˃ I said unhappily. ˂I guess that's that.˃

A woman opened the door for us.

We stood in the corridor, disappointed.

˂Rachel? How long have we been in morph?˃ Boris asked.

Rachel picked up her watch.

˂Ten minutes,˃ she said.

˂Let's find somewhere to demorph,˃ Lisa suggested.

Just then, the front door opened. Six men came in, armed with nets, needles, and tranquilizer guns.

˂Um, guys? I don't like the look of this,˃ I said.

The men saw us and headed straight for us.

˂Neither do I. Let's get outta here!˃ Lisa cried.

Suddenly, one of the men charged forward and scooped Lisa up in a net.

˂Hey!˃ she cried. ˂Let me go! What are you doing?! What the -˃

Another man injected something into her, and she fell silent, unconscious.

Boris tried to run, but he was also caught.

Rachel looked like she was ready to let out a burst of fire, but one of the men raised his tranquilizer gun.

BANG!

FLINT!

The dart stuck into Rachel's arm.

˂Hey! You sleazy-˃ She fell unconscious.

At first, I was too startled to do anything. Then, I performed some acrobatics I normally wouldn't dare to think about.

I held my clothes with my finger-like toes, and then leaped! I hit a wall and bounced off, then grabbed a horizontal pole on the ceiling.

I started shuffling along it.

BANG!

Someone fired!

FLINT!

It missed completely, and stuck in the roof.

The guns weren't really that loud, and I guess no one in the studios heard them.

I continued to swing along, heading straight towards the door. Closer... closer... closer... I was there! But how was I going to open it?

I dropped from the ceiling, just as...

BANG!

FLINT!

It missed! It hit the little window on the door.

I had an idea. I leaped up to the window, and then drove a fist through it.

CRASH!

Blood! I was cut!

I quickly swung out the window, dragging my clothes behind me, just as one of the men tried to grab me.

**Author's Annotation:** Their clothes sure are a huge pain to keep track of. Thankfully, Rachel made a discovery which will help solve the problem. Must be nice being Bounce or Blitz and not having to worry about it.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"Ma-ma-mankey!" I cried as I landed outside the door.

There was a van outside. On the side of the van was the writing, 'Cerulean Labs: We study what others won't dare to'.

I ran off. I needed to find somewhere to demorph.

I ducked into an alley and hid behind a dumpster. I started demorphing.

I quickly put on my clothes, then stepped out the alley.

I needed a fast morph so I could get to Bounce and Blitz, who were back in their cave.

I looked around for a Pokémon trainer. There! A girl, about my age. She had about five Pokéballs clipped to her waist.

I walked over to her.

"Hi," I said. "You're a Pokémon trainer?"

"Hi!" she said. "Yep, I've got five Pokémon!"

"I'm Michael."

"I'm Stephanie."

"What Pokémon have you got?"

"I've got a Bellsprout, a Meowth, an Oddish, a Machop, and a Pidgeotto."

Pidgeotto! Perfect!

"Do you want to fight?" she asked.

"No thanks," I said. "I haven't got any Pokémon. Could I have a look at your Pidgeotto?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

She threw a Pokéball, and out popped Pidgeotto.

"Cool!" I said. "Can I pet it?"

She looked surprised, but said, "Okay."

I bent down and started petting the Pidgeotto. As I did, I acquired it.

It became calm as I acquired it, like all Pokémon do.

"Huh, that's weird," Stephanie said. "He usually doesn't like being petted that much."

"I guess he likes me," I said, standing up. "Well, I must be going. It's starting to get dark."

Before she could say anything else, I walked off.

It was a shame I didn't have any time to ask for her phone number. She was pretty.

I ducked into another alley, hid behind another dumpster, and then focused.

It's so strange how quickly I had gotten used to the idea of morphing.

At first, I didn't notice the changes. But then I looked down.

My toes! They were sort of melting together. Then, they split off into three talons, with a fourth growing out of my heel.

My legs thinned and shrunk, and I felt an itching sensation all over my body. I suddenly realized I was growing feathers.

I felt my arms growing wider and sprouting feathers. I had wings!

I was blind momentarily as my eyes changed. Then... _Wow!_ I could see amazingly well, it was like I had binoculars strapped in front of my eyes.

My mouth bulged out and grew hard, becoming a beak.

I was complete. I checked myself, to make sure I had finished morphing.

Wait a minute! I wasn't a Pidgeotto!

I was too small. I was only a Pidgey.

_What the?_ What happened? Maybe we could only morph Pokémon in their earliest forms for some reason.

I shrugged it off, grabbed my clothes with my talons, and then prepared to fly.

**Author's Annotation:** I can only imagine how suspicious it must be to have someone on the street ask about your Pokémon like that. Thankfully Stephanie went along with it. I believe Stephanie shows up again later in the series, as well.

Having the Pokémorphs unable to morph evolved Pokémon was originally meant to keep them from just acquiring ridiculously powerful morphs, such as level 60 fully evolved Pokémon. I wanted them to build up their own morphs' levels instead of acquiring a gym leader's Pokémon, for instance. I eventually gave them a way around it anyway, and then it backfired further when "baby" Pokémon like Pichu were introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. The whole thing became pretty convoluted really. Oh well.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

I wasn't really sure what to expect. I thought maybe I'd have to flap my wings a lot, and it would be hard work.

That wasn't the case.

I turned to face the wind. There wasn't much because I was in an alley.

I opened my small wings, then flapped. I started to rise from the ground, and the more I flapped, the higher I rose.

I was going higher and higher, faster and faster!

Suddenly...

There was a gust of wind, strong enough to get into the alley.

FWOOSH!

˂Yaaah!˃

The wind caught my wings and threw me up. I rose above the buildings, and kept rising!

˂Whoa, cool!˃ I yelled from the sheer enjoyment of floating there.

My clothes were a bit of a pain to carry, but weren't quite too heavy.

I remembered what I was supposed to be doing: Getting to Blitz and Bounce as quickly as possible.

I turned and headed towards the little cave they had found to live in.

As I went, I enjoyed the total freedom of flying. I mean, it's so... so... so _free_. You have no idea.

When I was getting near their cave, I suddenly noticed a Spearow floating above and a little bit behind me.

He was following me. Watching me.

I started to feel nervous. I didn't like the look of that Spearow.

Quite suddenly...

"SPEEEAAAR!"

The Spearow! It dove, coming straight at me.

I quickly banked right, and the Spearow flew past. It used its momentum to go up again, and before I knew it, the Spearow and I were glaring at each other.

I started flapping my wings hard, creating a Gust.

The Spearow was knocked off balance for a moment, but then started clawing me with its sharp talons.

˂Ow!˃ I yelled as I was cut in about three different places.

I accidentally dropped my clothes. They floated down, towards the fields below.

˂Oh great,˃ I muttered.

I rushed at the Spearow. I rushed as fast as I could.

WHAM!

I hit the Spearow. I hit it _hard_.

But after going so fast, my wings were _so_ tired.

We started to fall. The Spearow and I were too tired to fly anymore.

I kept my wings open, and sort of floated down and down.

I landed softly on the ground. The Spearow landed nearby.

We stared at each other, daring one another to attack.

˂Bounce! Blitz!˃ I called. ˂Can you hear me?˃

˂Wha? Cool, hi Michael! Ya morphed?˃ It was Blitz talking, of course.

˂I'm in Pidgey morph. Right now, I'm getting ready to have an all-out brawl with a Spearow.˃

˂Hang on, I'll try to find you,˃ Blitz said.

The Spearow was definitely considering attacking me.

I kicked at the ground with a talon, bringing up blinding sand, right in the Spearow's eyes.

"Sp... sp... spearow!" it cried as it rushed forward to peck me.

It missed completely. It hit a rock.

I raced forward and hit it with a Quick Attack, and it finally fainted.

Blitz appeared out of the tall grass. ˂Is that you, Michael?˃

˂Blitz!˃ I said, relieved to see him. ˂Get your brother. We've got trouble.˃

**Author's Annotation:** Somehow, it just seemed right to have Spearows be a complete annoyance. If you compare them to Pidgey, they look far meaner. Plus, there was that whole Spearow incident in the first episode of the Pokémon anime.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Blitz got his brother, Bounce, and I told them what had happened.

We would have to go to the labs and rescue them. What else could we do? Talk to the scientists? They'd just try to capture us.

I started flying to our apartments. I landed on the windowsill outside of my room.

The apartment building has about seven floors. My room is on the fourth floor.

I started demorphing. I hoped my arms would be the first things to morph.

They weren't.

My talons started to grow, becoming wider and splitting off into five toes.

I was starting to lose my grip. My human feet were clumsy and big.

My feathers disappeared. My beak started to become softer.

It was a creepy feeling as I slowly, bit by bit, became human again.

And then... my foot slipped!

"PIDGEY!" I cried, not quite human enough to say anything else.

I reached out with half-formed fingers for something - _anything_ - to grab to stop my fall.

I managed to grab a small ledge which was at the top of my window. I pulled myself forward so I wasn't leaning backward, ready to fall.

I felt the morph finish as I managed to wedge my window open. I jumped in.

Then there I was, naked, in my apartment.

I quickly grabbed some new clothes, making sure they were quite tight.

After all, Rachel said she was able to morph her shirt.

I put on my clothes and then I closed my window.

I left my apartment through the door (after all, I wasn't naked anymore) and, once I was outside the building, I heard Blitz's voice in my head.

˂Hi Michael! This is _so cool_! I had no idea it was this fun!˃ he said.

I couldn't respond because I wasn't in a morph.

˂Blitz and I acquired that Spearow you knocked out,˃ Bounce said. ˂We had no idea flying was such fun!˃

I walked into an alley and made sure I was well out of sight.

_Great,_ I thought. _Here I am, in an alley again._

I started to morph into a Pidgey again. As I did, I watched my clothes. Feathers grew all over me, including on my clothes! It was working!

When I was fully morphed, I started flying. Two Spearows swooped down to join me.

˂So, do you know where this laboratory is?˃ Bounce asked.

˂Uh... I think so,˃ I said. ˂Follow me.˃

We flew off, heading to where I thought the labs were. Turns out I was right.

Below me, with the Pidgey's incredible eyes, I saw a sign saying, 'Cerulean Labs: We study what others won't dare to'.

˂Yep,˃ I said, recognizing the slogan as the same one I saw on the side of the van earlier. ˂That's them alright. Um... does anyone see a way in?˃

˂I see a kind of an opening near some type of vehicle,˃ Bounce said in a not-very-accurate way.

I saw what he had seen: a loading bay with a van parked in front. The van was the same van I had seen back at the studios.

The van wasn't right up against the loading bay, but the bay was open and inside, I could see a sleeping guard.

˂Okay,˃ I said. ˂Who wants to try a dive?˃

˂Yep, me! Me! Let me!˃ Blitz said instantly.

˂Hmph, you would,˃ Bounce muttered.

**Author's Annotation:** A sleeping guard? Oh yes. It's just like a Saturday morning cartoon.

It's also nice Michael's clothing woes are taken care of. I wish I'd had them figure out clothing earlier, actually. Having the characters naked so often in a kid's story is a little awkward.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

Blitz swept back his wings and quite suddenly... he was off! And I mean the full-speed, suicidal, let's-have-fun kind of off. He rocketed downwards, going faster and faster, getting closer and closer to the ground.

˂YAAAH-HAAAH!˃ he yelled in my head.

˂Me next!˃ I cried. I mean, it sounded so _fun_!

I swept back my wings, leaned forward, and aimed with my beak towards the ground.

I think that, for the rest of my life, I will never forget that experience.

I shot down like a bullet, with Bounce not far behind.

I went down and down, faster and faster! It was like I was falling, except I knew I could stop diving whenever I wanted.

Bounce and Blitz were a little bit faster than me, but I didn't really care. I was on an invisible roller-coaster that went straight down! I was falling faster than a rock! I was having the time of my life.

My Pidgey brain suddenly started screaming, "Open your wings! Open you wings!" So I did.

Bounce and Blitz were doing the same thing.

My dive was becoming slower, and just as the Pidgey brain predicted, I landed safely inside the loading bay.

˂Whoa!˃ I said in thought-speak only Blitz and Bounce could hear. ˂That was a rush! I may never look at a roller-coaster the same way again!˃

I examined the room around me. It was almost completely bare, except for a guard - a _sleeping_ guard - sitting in a chair.

˂Good guard,˃ I muttered sarcastically. ˂I wonder what that guy gets paid?˃

The only other thing in the room was a door.

We demorphed and then went through it into a corridor. We started heading down it when we heard someone coming up behind us. We quickly ducked into a side room.

Two scientists rushed past, one a girl, one a boy. The boy was holding his arm and moaning, "I hate Bulbasaurs! I hate Bulbasaurs!"

The girl said, "Oh come on, he didn't bite you _that_ hard!"

"Wanna bet?" the boy growled.

Then they were gone again.

˂I am morphing into my Nidoran form,˃ Bounce said.

˂Me too,˃ Blitz agreed.

I started morphing into my Mankey form. I shrunk and grew fur, then sprouted a tail.

I heard more scientists rush past, saying, "Hurry! Lab 2 is on fire!"

˂Lab 2, eh?˃ I said so only Blitz, Bounce, and I could hear. ˂I'm betting that's where our friends are.˃

Cautiously, we stepped into the corridor and then started following the scientists.

They grabbed fire extinguishers and then went into Lab 2. We followed, and when I entered Lab 2, I could barely believe my eyes.

A Charmander was in one corner, setting fire to everything it could. A Bulbasaur was up on some shelves, knocking off beakers and glass vials with its vines. A Pikachu was running around yelling, "Pika! Pika!" and occasionally shocking a scientist.

˂Michael! Bounce! Blitz!˃ Lisa cried. ˂Where _were_ you?!˃

I leaped forward and knocked a net out of a scientist's hand.

Bounce, a male Nidoran, picked up the net in his mouth and scooted away with it. The scientist gave chase.

Blitz, a female Nidoran, ran right in front of the scientist, tripping him over.

˂When we woke up, all these scientists were examining us,˃ Boris explained. ˂Lisa got angry and electrocuted them. Rachel managed to melt the bars of her cage -˃

˂That was harder than the Math test yesterday!˃ Rachel said. ˂I kept running out of fire!˃

˂Anyway, she melted the bars of her cage and opened our cages,˃ Boris said.

˂We've gotta get outta here!˃ Lisa cried. ˂I don't know how long we've been in morph.˃

**Author's Annotation:** It kinda sounds like the others didn't need rescuing, really. They seem to be having a blast.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

We ran out of Lab 2 and headed straight down the corridor.

I looked over my shoulder just long enough to see a group of people - four of them - running towards us down the corridor.

With my acute Mankey hearing, I heard one of them say, "Ready with the tranquilizer gun?"

Another said, "Yep! This baby'll knock 'em out for at least 3 hours!"

˂Hurry!˃ Boris cried. ˂They've got tranquilizer guns!˃

˂I know. We heard,˃ Lisa said grimly. ˂Michael! Where's this loading bay?˃

As we ran, I looked at the corridor around us. Had we gone too far? No! We had just passed the side room where Bounce, Blitz, and I had morphed.

˂It's just up here!˃ I said. ˂Right about... there! That's the door!˃

We went straight through as, like before, it was open a crack.

The guard! He was no longer asleep. He had a net, and he scooped up Bounce with it.

Boris used one of his vines to whip at the net, breaking it.

˂Thank you!˃ Bounce cried as he escaped.

"Hey!" the guard cried. "Come back here!"

He reached out to grab Lisa...

"PIKA!"

ZZZZZ!

...And was rewarded with a nasty shock.

"YAAAH!" the guard cried. "Argh! I _hate_ those things!"

WHAM!

The door was slammed open as the group of people pursuing us entered the room.

˂Maybe we should leave now?˃ Bounce suggested.

Rachel was the first to bound out of the still-open door of the loading bay, and then she started running through the night air.

We all headed after her.

˂You people are sick!˃ Rachel called to the group following us. ˂We're sentient beings! And you capture us like we're just Pokémon, nothing more. Your labs should be burnt to the ground!˃

I was kinda shocked. I had never heard Rachel just flat-out yell in anger. But Rachel is big in what she believes in. Those scientists had captured us, locked us up, and studied us like we were just some new species of Pokémon. That had completely enraged Rachel.

But the chase wasn't over yet. They were still after us.

We were nearing a big wire fence. It marked the edge of the Cerulean Labs compound.

We reached it, and it had a little ditch below it. Rachel, Lisa, Boris, Bounce, and Blitz started digging at it to make it just a little bit deeper. Then they squeezed under.

I wasn't built for digging. I wouldn't fit under the fence.

I took a run-up and then bounded to the top of the fence.

But the men following us were oh-so-close now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one raise his tranquilizer gun.

I was standing on the top of the fence. I jumped off to the other side. Too late.

BANG!

FLINT!

The dart stuck in the back of my leg. I felt my muscles go numb. I landed on the other side of the fence. And I fell unconscious.

**Author's Annotation:** It seems Mankeys _can_ actually dig. They could learn the TM back in Gen 1, whereas most of the other characters' morphs couldn't. Oops. I guess Michael just decided that climbing was the better option.

I'm also not sure why I felt I had to justify Rachel's anger. Anyone would be furious after being treated as property like that.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

I woke up. I was sitting on something soft. A cushion.

I looked around the room. Rachel and Boris were hunched over a computer. Lisa was sitting at a table, drinking soup. Bounce was watching her, fascinated. And Blitz was sitting next to me.

˂Hey! Michael's awake!˃ Blitz called to everyone.

They all jumped up and ran over to sit next to me.

˂Where... where are we?˃ I asked, dazed.

"My apartment," Boris said. "Lisa, Rachel, and I acquired Pidgeys and flew here. Bounce and Blitz carried you."

"We were very worried," Rachel said. "You wouldn't wake up, even when Lisa electrocuted you in Pikachu morph."

I got up. I suddenly realized I was still in morph. I started demorphing.

˂How late is it?˃ I asked.

"_Very_ late," Lisa said. "I'm going to bed."

I turned towards the door. But then I stopped. I realized something. I wasn't demorphing.

˂Um, how long was I in morph?˃ I asked.

Everyone froze. They all stared at me. At my Mankey body.

I concentrated on demorphing again, desperate to become human. Nothing.

˂Too long,˃ I said, answering my own question. ˂I was in morph too long.˃

"No, that can't be true!" Lisa said.

Rachel was biting her lip.

Boris' eyes were wide open in an expression of horror.

Blitz and Bounce were staring at me with unreadable expressions.

˂Well, I guess... I guess I'm stuck,˃ I said.

"You're not stuck!" Boris said. "Come on, man. Focus!"

˂I'm stuck!˃ I cried. ˂I can't demorph.˃

"I should have known," Rachel mumbled to herself, shaking her head slightly. "I should have known. Of course Michael was in morph too long! I should have realized it."

"Rachel, even if we did realize, what could we have done?" Lisa said. "He wouldn't wake up."

Bounce and Blitz were being very quiet. Finally, Bounce stepped forward. ˂I'm sorry.˃

˂You can live with us in our cave,˃ Blitz said, optimistically.

˂What does it matter?˃ I sulked. ˂I might as well kill myself! Would you want to be a Mankey for the rest of your life?!˃ My Mankey body was tense. I stopped, closed my eyes, and took a couple of deep breaths. ˂I'm sorry I snapped at you, Blitz,˃ I apologized. ˂I would love to stay in your cave. But just tell me something: Are there any Zubats?˃

Blitz shook his head. ˂Nope.˃

˂Good. I hate those things,˃ I said.

––––––––––

We headed out in the night air, following Bounce and Blitz as they led us to their cave.

It wasn't a bad little cave, really. It was rather small, with definitely no room for Zubats to live.

There were little heaps of grass where Bounce and Blitz sleep, and they quickly began gathering more for me.

Boris, Lisa, and Rachel left after making sure I was okay. Yeah, I was okay. For now.

I thanked Bounce and Blitz for letting me stay in their cave and then I went to sleep.

**Author's Annotation:** I planned from the start to have a character trapped in morph, like in Animorphs. It didn't seem to fit in the first book, so I thought it'd be better to have it happen in book 2. The actual choice of morph is probably confusing to people, though. If I wanted to ape Animorphs (no pun intended), a Pidgey or Spearow would be the logical choice.

Well, trapping Michael as a Mankey was actually an in-joke of some kind. As I said earlier, these characters were inspired by people I knew from school. I don't remember the joke itself, but I'm sure it wasn't very funny.

From what I recall, I don't joke about it much in the series itself and mostly play it straight. I still find this chapter a bit depressing.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

I can't remember the dreams I had. All I can remember is that they made me very tense.

I woke up. It was probably about 2:00 in the morning.

I tried to sleep again, but my Mankey brain was restless. It didn't like sleeping on a pile of grass. It wanted a tree.

I got up. I started tip-toeing towards the entrance of the cave. I didn't want to wake up Blitz and Bounce.

I jumped when I heard a sound.

"Meeeeew, mew mew mew."

It was either Bounce or Blitz, talking in their sleep. I didn't know exactly who, because I had never heard either of them speak aloud.

I wished I could see, so I could tell if I was about to step on a rock or something.

When I finally made it outside, I could see better in the moonlight.

I dashed towards the nearest tree. It had nice, big branches.

I started climbing. I let the Mankey side of me take over.

I went up, up, up, up, up!

Finally, I reached a nice, fat branch. But... there was already a Mankey there. Its eyes flew open, and it cried, "MANKEY!" Then, it drew back a fist.

WHAM!

I fell from the branch, plus a sore eye. I landed with a thud on the ground, then quickly glanced around to make sure no one had been watching.

"Mmmaaaannk," I complained, touching my sore eye.

I looked up and could just see the silhouette of a Mankey shaking its fist at me.

˂Yeah, yeah, yeah,˃ I muttered, walking away.

I found another tree, and this time, I was cautious as I climbed.

There was a nice, thick branch about half-way up, complete with a bunch of bananas below it.

I closed my eyes and focused on sleeping.

––––––––––

The sun was bright and the sky was cloudless. In other words, a beautiful morning.

I was sitting on my branch, admiring the lovely view while feasting on a banana. My Mankey brain was constantly tense, and these bananas seemed to soothe it.

I suddenly saw two Mews wandering around not far from my tree.

˂Michael! Michael!˃ It was Bounce and Blitz, looking for me.

I dropped from my branch, swung on another branch, then landed neatly on the ground.

˂There you are!˃ Blitz said, bouncing over. ˂We were all looking for you.˃

Lisa, Boris, and Rachel ran up.

"Hiya Michael!" Boris said.

"You okay?" Lisa asked.

˂Yeah,˃ I mumbled. ˂I guess.˃

˂Did you sleep well?˃ Blitz asked.

˂Well, I was sorta uncomfortable. I mean, the Mankey part of me wanted to sleep in a tree,˃ I said. ˂Please don't take it personally.˃

"Ooookay," Boris said. "I think I should go. I'm supposed to visit my mother."

"Me too," Lisa said. "We'll come back later. Bye!"

They left. Rachel stayed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rachel asked. She looked concerned.

˂Yeah,˃ I said. ˂I'm okay.˃

Rachel turned to leave, but then stopped. She knelt down so she was at my level. Then she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

Then, with a mischievous smile on her face, she left.

Once I was sure she was gone, I started jumping up and down.

˂She kissed me! She kissed me!˃ I cried as I bounded into a tree and started swinging on the branches.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Bounce and Blitz staring at me. But I didn't really care.

˂Are you sure that's just normal human behavior?˃ Blitz muttered to Bounce, forgetting to limit his thought-speech so I couldn't hear.

Bounce nodded. ˂Rachel told me it's called 'messing with boy's minds'.˃

**THE END!**

**Author's Annotation:** Wow. Lisa and Boris sure excused themselves in a hurry.

And "messing with boy's minds"? As a kid I just thought this was funny. Now Rachel seems extremely cruel. Michael's whole life just changed for the worse, and she's gonna play mind games? Damn it, Rachel!

But seriously, I like this book because it's nice seeing what Michael's life as a human is like before he gets trapped in morph. The next story in the series is Pokémorphs #3: The Search, narrated by Bounce.

And finally, I find the image of a Mankey shaking its fist at you from the top of a tree_ hilarious_ for some reason. I guess it reminds me of the old Pokémon Snap game, in which Mankeys were constantly thrashing around with rage.


End file.
